Kuda Bux walked up to the girl and said, "Open the book to any page." Then Kuda Bux read from the book without hesitation. We all crowded around Bux to verify his readings. Nearly everyone got a chance to select a page and point to the paragraph he wanted read. Bux read every selection correctly. Certainly everyone here is not a shill, I thought. I also was sure he did not memorize the entire text book.

He again explained that to read with his physical eyes he needed to wear glasses, but his subtle faculty of vision was unimpaired.

This was getting more convincing. But, there was still some room for trickery. Someone could be reading the book and somehow transmitting the information to Kuda Bux. This was possible, but not very probable. I was not yet 100% sold.

Finally, Kuda Bux performed the coup de grace. "Would anyone like to come up and write something on the blackboard," Kuda Bux asked. One person came up and wrote, "Can you read this?" Kuda Bux smiled. "Yes," he said. He took his chalk and precisely traced over the script written on the blackboard. The next person wrote a brief sentence below the previous one, and Kuda Bux again traced perfectly over that one as well. While tracing he noticed that the letter "i" was not dotted. He dotted it saying, "You forgot to dot the "i."

Continuing playfully, Kuda Bux asked, "Can anyone write something in a foreign language?" A woman appearing to be from the Middle East stepped forward and wrote in Arabic. Kuda Bux then unhesitatingly traced exactly over each chalk mark, going from left to right, then repeating the tracing from right to left. This concluded Kuda Bux’s demonstration.

This last scenario convinced me that no one was communicating instructions to Kuda Bux. There was no way his hand was being guided to trace over the complex Arabic text, forwards and then backwards.The only other possibility was that somehow Kuda Bux may have shifted the packing which covered his eyes. I watched carefully as Kuda Bux slowly began to unravel the wrapping.

He removed the sack covering his head. The five cotton strips were still tightly in place. Facing the two volunteers who tied these in place he asked, "Will you remove these bandages?" The two fellows obliged and had to forcibly slip each one of them off because the knots were done so tightly. This exposed the medicinal tape still holding the cotton wads in place. Then they slowly peeled back the tape with the cotton wads attached and exposed the two packs of dough. The dough was still pressed tightly in place, sealing both eyes. "Peel the dough back very slowly," Kuda Bux instructed. "Notice that my eyes are still shut." The volunteers slowly peeled the dough back and I verified that Kuda Bux's eyes were certainly shut. Then, Kuda Bux took the dough patties and turned them over, showing them to the audience. "The impressions of my closed eyes are there in the dough," he said. I was convinced he was no trickster. Now I wanted to learn from him.

An audience member asked, "How can you see?"

Kuda Bux explained, "I can see due to the power of my concentration. I bring my attention to a finer level of my vision. It's my power of concentration." Kuda Bux paused briefly then stated, "My back was broken in three places. Doctors said that I would never walk again. With my concentration I was able to heal myself. I have no problem walking now," he asserted.

"Can this work for blind people?" someone asked.

Kuda Bux replied, "I had once stated that this could help blind people. But, I am correcting my statement. This is not a solution for blind people."

"Can anyone learn to do this?" someone else asked.

"Yes," Kuda Bux affirmed. "You can develop your power of concentration by gazing at the gap between a flame and the candle. Do this just a few seconds at first," he explained. "After some time you will be able to do this for much longer. It will take about twenty years of daily practice to get results."

Kuda Bux expressed his desire to teach anyone for free, but got no takers; understandably, since twenty years is just too long to be staring at candles. Personally, I was interested in an easier method that produced quicker results.

The meeting ended about 8:30 p.m. Everyone was awestruck and stunned by this performance. I left absorbed in my own thoughts trying to digest what I had just witnessed.

Two weeks later I attended another similar demonstration by Kuda Bux to confirm my first observations. I was then, and am still now, completely convinced that Kuda Bux was not a fake. He was able to do what he said. As with the previous meeting there was nothing being sold. No names were taken. There were no lists to sign or any registration. There was no fee charged. Kuda Bux sincerely wanted to educate people about their latent potential.

During the 1930's and 40's Kuda Bux gave stage performances all over the world claiming his eyeless sight was due to his skill in yoga after decades of intense practice. In 1934 he obliged a team of experts and scientists by permitting them to seal his eyes shut with dough, tinfoil, gauze and layers of woolen bandages. He astounded them by being able to read from books placed in front of him.

In 1935, in front of an audience of scientists from the University of London Council for Psychical Research and news reporters, Kuda Bux demonstrated firewalking, another of his exceptional abilities. He walked across a twelve foot pit of burning coals unscathed. Bux's feet were checked before and after the firewalking to verify that no protective chemicals were used. It was a windy day and the surface temperature of the fire was measured at 806 degrees Fahrenheit. The body of the fire was measured at 2552 degrees Fahrenheit which is hot enough to melt steel. After Kuda Bux's firewalking through the coals, a cameraman who had fumbled in taking photographs, asked for a retake. Kuda Bux obliged by repeating the firewalk.

In 1937, he amazed onlookers in Liverpool by walking the entire length of a narrow ledge of a roof 200 feet above the ground while blindfolded as before. In 1938, in Montreal, Canada scientists also conducted experiments on Bux’s claim to X Ray vision and confirmed his ability to see while blindfolded.

In 1945, Kuda Bux skillfully rode a bicycle through congested New York’s Times Square while his eyes were taped shut. Also, he was buried alive in Central Park while a baseball game was played over him. In 1950, Kuda Bux starred in his own CBS series as Kuda Bux, Hindu Mystic during which time he gave demonstrations in mind reading as well as eyeless vision. Also, he appeared on the Johnny Carson show, leaving his audience and Johnny flabbergasted with his demonstration. Two books have been written about his extraordinary feats and about the many experiments that were conducted on him by researchers.

Kuda Bux was born as Khudah Bukhsh in 1906 in Kashmir. He died February 5, 1981.

I was fascinated by Kuda Bux's demonstration of his abilities. I considered myself fortunate to have been able to closely observe such a renowned individual; one who gave these small exhibitions without fanfare or profit, for the sole purpose of reaching out to the common man in the street. Observing Kuda Bux's demonstrations intensified my enthusiasm to meet more individuals with extraordinary powers.